Running Foal

Question
Our barns just bought 4 foals(all girls) and a Mare who's in foal. 3 of the foals are 5 months and one of them is 4 months,the 2 paliminos both came with halters one and we were able to put halters on the other 2 (a black and, dun) Both the black and the grey will allow people near them, though the black is skiddish. But the 2 palimino's seem terrified of people, esecially the 4 month old which I hope to personally be working with. How should I go about trying to show the foal I'm not going to hurt her and be able to catch and touch her, I do not own the barns so she stays in the feild for most of the time until we bring them all in for a bit. I'm not the most experianced but I'd really love if she would let people come near her and show her were not going to eat her. How should this be done?  

Answer
Hi Devon,

      Is there any way you can get ahold of a round pen or panels? If you can then put the foal in it and feed and water him/her in it. If not can isolate them then they will come around quicker as you will become their herd mate. What I like to do with a horse who seems to be afraid of people is to use grain as an inducement. I will put the bucket about 2 feet away from me and have the horse approach and eat from it. After a few times of doing this I then move the bucket one foot away and over time the horse will come and eat from it. Over time I move the bucket closer until it is right in front of me and the horse has to touch me to eat from it. The important thing is to at first ignore the horse. You can read a book, sing, anything like that. When the horse is comfortable with eating the grain when it is  right in front of you, then I will scratch it's neck. If he or she backs away then I go back to ignoring it. Keep repeating this and when he or she is comfortable with scratching of it's neck then proceed to touch other parts of it's body. Always use steady motions. Since the foal is still young it's natural curiosity will eventually take over.


Lisa